Good morning, or whatever time of the day that you are reading this. I have decided to take a very small break from the Helicopter series, in order to talk about the Easter story. I hope that you enjoy this, and please leave a comment, like or rate this post. I know this is early, as Easter is not until April 4th.

The story of Easter has several components to it, the components include: the Last Supper, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, and Jesus’ resurrection. There is a ton of scripture that goes along with this, so in order to conserve space, I will just be listing the scripture. I pray that you will take the time to read each of the scriptures that I list. What amazes me is that all of the gospels talk about the components, each with a different perspective of the events. It also amazes me that the Last Supper is tied so closely to the Jewish holiday of Passover (also called the Festival of the Unleavened Bread).

In order to talk about Passover, we need to take a small journey into the book of Exodus (yes, the Old Testament). Here is what we know about the book of Exodus, it was written by Moses. He wrote the this book while roaming the desert with the Hebrew people. I will get more into Moses when I start the Old Testament in the Helicopter series. The book of Exodus was written in 1400 BC, and covered the period between 1525 BC and 1400 BC. In chapters 7-12 it covers the 10 plagues of Egypt, including the Passover, established with the 10th plague that called for the death of the first born, of both human and beast. Chapter 13 begins the Exodus ( the Hebrews leaving Egypt). This is where the unleavened bread comes from. Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to take the Hebrews and leave Egypt. So the Hebrew people packed up quickly, including the bread that did not have time to rise. Look at Exodus 13:1-16 for more on the Feast of the Unleavened bread.

Let’s talk a look at the first component, the Last Supper, here is where Jesus tells the disciples that one of them would betray Him, and also sets up the tradition of Communion, which takes place in the church. Here are the scriptures regarding the Last Supper: Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-25, and Luke 22:7-23. Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him into the city of Jerusalem to prepare a meal to celebrate Passover. Three important things happened at the supper. 1. Jesus explained that one his disciples would be tray him. Each of the disciples denied this allegation including the one who did, which was Judas. Jesus explained that the one that will betray him will suffer a terrible fate. 2. Jesus prayed and thanked God for the meal. He broke the bread and shared the wine. Stating that the bread was a symbol of his body, broken for them, and that the wine was a symbol of his blood which would be poured out in order for their sins to be forgiven, and 3. after the meal, Jesus became like a servant and washed the feet of his disciples. Peter did not feel right about having Jesus wash his feet, but He explained that He was doing this to be an example to them.

The Second component is Judas betraying Jesus. As discussed above Jesus knew that one of his disciples would betray him, he in fact knew that Judas would be the one to betray him. Here are the scriptures regarding the betrayal: John 18:1-13, Luke 22:1-6 and 22:47-54, Matthew 26:47-56, and Mark 14:43-50. Scholars offered up several explanations as to why Judas betrayed Jesus, which includes bribery, and being possessed by a demon. The gospels implied that Jesus anticipated and permitted Judas betrayal, because it would allow God’s plan to be achieved. Judas knew that Jesus and his disciples would go to a garden near Jerusalem. Judas led the soldiers to the where Jesus was, and even told the soldiers that he would show who Jesus was by giving him a kiss.

The Third component is the Crucifixion of Jesus. Here are the scriptures regarding the crucifixion: Matthew 27:1-54, Mark 15:1-40, Luke 23:1-48, and John 19:1-30. This bible story is the central summary of the saving Gospel of Jesus. In fact, Jesus prophesied his death in Matthew, stating ” from that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Jesus understood his life would be required to be sacrificed for the sins of man. There were extraordinary events that took place during Jesus’ crucifixion. The sky was completely dark for the three hours that Jesus hung on the cross. When he took his last breath, the earth shook, the temple curtain split from top to bottom, and the tombs of the saints opened and their bodies raised from the dead. The most important part of the crucifixion was it was God’s plan from the beginning of the birth of Jesus. The sinless life of Jesus was given so that man could receive salvation and eternal life in heaven.

The Fourth and final component is the Resurrection of Jesus. Here are the scriptures regarding Jesus resurrection: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. The resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith, for without the resurrection, the belief in God’s saving grace through Jesus is destroyed. When He rose from the dead, Jesus confirmed that He was the Son of God, and his work of atonement, redemption, reconciliation, and salvation. The resurrection was a real, literal, physical raising of Jesus’ body from the dead. Both the Old and New Testament speak of the truth of Jesus being raised from death. Jesus testified of his resurrection before he died on the cross and his disciples witnessed his body after the resurrection.

I hope and pray that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed doing it. Please leave a comment below, would love to hear what you think of this. Thanks